Welcome to the Round up! The place where the current news and
latest articles can be rounded up monthly as we reflect on some of the best
things we’ve read from this month. You'll find all of these stories and more in Flipboard. Click here to take you there.
Applied McLuhan is the magazine
established for those who are interested in marketing and also in the latest
SEO for business and for your online sites.
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Snapchat Marketing has begun to emerge as a player,
with so many younger people moving away from the Facebook platform.
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In Marketing, there are articles on event
marketing as well as ‘hyperlocal’ marketing to serve specific areas. Influencer
marketing is for those who would like to make an impact on their specific niche
or genre. There’s a great piece about influencer marketing history in The New
Yorker in AM
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Check out the infographic on 11 essential skills
marketers need
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And after the fire at Notre Dame- there’s a visual
history of Notre Dame listed
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Finally, find out what an email whitelist is
from Hubspot, and why you might need to get on the list.
6 Degrees of History
is one of my favorite new magazines listed on Flipboard. I love the idea of
tying together so many ideas that are current and news of the days with items
about the past that relevant.
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In talking about the fire at Notre Dame, there
is the history of a great fire destroying the famous library at Alexandria in
Egypt. There is controversy over whether a fire destroyed it, or simply time
and lack of funding did it in.
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One of my favorite sites is Atlas Obscura, and
they always have interesting historical pieces to highlight. Some of the best
of the month feature new research on Stone age burials from over 6000 years
ago. There is a great picture from the Victorian era that shows us how
Victorians were obsessed with ghosts and talking to the dead, even using a
strange looking megaphone in one shot!
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There is an exciting discovery in Egypt of a
tomb with all the colors still intact from over 4000 years ago. It gives us an
ever-expanding window on the Egyptian lives of not just the pharaohs, but of
the society as a whole and the lives they lived and created when they put
together the world’s first real super-power long before Greece or Rome came
along.
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One of the most moving pieces from History.com
is a photo gallery of tenements of the 19th century, which depicted
the lives of factory workers who were crowded into rooms and buildings in New
York City, even showing small children huddled under stairwells and grates. It
is the starkest depiction that hammers home the point. Just one of these pictures
is worth more than a thousand words in showing us poverty and despair in the
faces of real people who are long gone.
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There’s so many good pieces in the history
files, with stories on Frederick Douglass, some facts about the Civil War, a
piece on the hot topic of Reparations, and even some facts about Easter symbols
and traditions, and where they came from. I’ve always had a ‘thing’ for stories
on Jack the Ripper, and there’s a piece about the women who were his victims.
We have pieces on Reconstruction, on both world wars, on
political history such as the Teapot Dome and Watergate, all of these are ways
that bring history to life and remind us that our past is part of who we are
and reminds us of where we came from and gives us pause as we see where we are
going!
6 Degrees of Film is
the magazine I most often update with new blog posts. Coming soon is the Summer
Film News, where we highlight some of the upcoming films released in summer.
But each month, there are some stand out pieces that are catalogued for those
who are members of 6 Degrees of film news followers.
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Of course, the Avengers is the biggest thing breaking in Hollywood now. The films
of the past are reviewed together, and the other articles recount guides to the
Infinity Stones as well as spoiler free reviews, along with spoiler alerts in
some reviews! Some of the most comprehensive articles include the entire
listing of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in its totality.
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Those who know me know my love for older cinema.
I’ve written a book on film, 6 Degrees of Film, where I talk about the events
that came together to give us the unique B-movie classic Casablanca. There’s a
good article from scriptmag.com about the techniques the screenwriters used
when they wrote the film.
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Star Wars is much anticipated and there’s a post
about all the Star Wars movies encompassed in their upcoming releases
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We often see filmographies of favorite actors
and directors listed. This month, there’s James McAvoy and Jessica Lange for
current film goers, and Shirley Maclaine and Shirley Temple, for classic film
buffs to enjoy.
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Also featured: Film festivals such as the
upcoming Tribeca in New York City and the Cannes Film Festival in France coming
next month. And for a sneak peek even earlier than the upcoming 6 Degrees
Summer Film News, NPR has a preview of films out this summer.
We
enjoy putting this together, and I have help from my friend, Jason King, who
lives on the other side of the world (Australia), but still manages to bond
with us over our mutual love of cinema!
6 Degrees Writer: Favorites is another
personal indulgence for me as I have always loved putting together not only
upcoming highlights from famous writers and screenwriters offering advice on
writing, but also the latest for those of us who work on blogs and in content
marketing, where the market turns with the flick of an eyelash.
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Jane
Friedman is my new “BFF” in terms of her great advice and informative
columns for those of us who labor in front of the keyboard for a portion of
each day. This month, I’ve reposted her “How to write a Book Proposal”
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Nina Amir
is another personal favorite of mine. I have met Ms Amir and have been hooked
on her common sense advice and practical tips for writers ever since she wrote
“How to Blog a Book.”
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Marketing
is something we all know, as writers, that we have to keep up with in the
same way as dental appointments. Some really good advice for this month: SMART
goals that will help you as a marketer.
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Time
management is another ‘thing’ that writers have to do and it’s not
glamorous but it’s vital if we ever want to finish a project without an editor
to badger us into completion.
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Critical
thinking is another area we need in all areas of our life, both in business
and in personal relationships. There’s a great piece from webwritersspotlight:
“The Importance of critical thinking in Writing (and how to apply it)” and I
highly recommend this.
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The Growing Group is
your monthly news for items we find that will help on our journey to higher self
esteem. More self confidence and tips to help manage your life are all part of
the Growing Group plan to lead you to the best imaginable you. Here’s some
things we saw:
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Ways to
wake up and feel confident in the morning; ways to boost your self esteem and
ways to be more positive; 10 ways to
spread positive energy every day; All of these things are found in the Growing Group magazine as we speak
about ways to feel confident every day. Morning routines are vital to get us
started on the right foot each day.
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The
practice of Zen is something that we discuss from time to time in keeping
with the centered and focused version of yourself that is living within each
us.
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About
your inner critic; the advice here is antithetical: STOP trying to ‘find’
yourself all the time; These invaluable lines of advice will help as we know
who are biggest critic usually is-ourselves. And those who have been pushing
the line that ‘finding yourself’ may have been wrong all along....how about
working to ‘create’ the new you?
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Success
in life defined; 4 things to know; and habits to bring you a positive self
image; It all comes down to how you feel about yourself. And working on ways to
define success is an integral component on our journey to improved self esteem.
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About
happiness; ways to find it in your life; a tip to help you feel happier;
tips from Harvard on living a happy life; Happiness is something that people
discuss these days in ways that we never did before. After all, the pursuit of
happiness is built in to our own founding fathers rules to create a more
perfect union. We need to define happiness, and then find ways to pursuit and
spark happiness in our lives.
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Quotes to
help boost your courage; quotes to overcome insecurity; quotes to spark joy;
some of the best motivational tools are the simplest; here we include the posts
that give us the best motivational medicine we can employ-quotes to inspire and
uplift every day.
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Journaling
exercises- and even when some of us aren’t always sold on the concept of
journaling, this article employs some techniques to help you learn the
importance in using journals to our best advantage.
We hope you find something in one of these articles that are
part of the whole package as we are on the road to healthier self- esteem. We
can look back at these simple tips and easy to follow practices and habits and
work to instill them in our daily routines. After a while, we will not even
notice when we find ourselves using these methods every day!
Brown Bag helps us as we go through our day and work to make
healthy choices in eating and in living. Here’s a round-up of the best articles
from the past month:
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Sheryl Crow’s Anti-Cancer Diet
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Tasty Meatless meals
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Natural ways to boost your immune system
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Chicken and Broccoli stir fry
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Little things to lower your Grocery Bills
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Digestion on track with celery salad
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Best Fruit for your Health?
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Natural home remedies for headaches
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Chicken Noodle soup for everything
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Health apps Nutritionists endorse
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Best lettuce to buy
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Healthy Dinners with Yogurt
Science:
For those who believe in Science...and climate change!
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How will Antarctica’s melting glaciers effect
sea levels in the next 100 years?
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Latest News from Hubble
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Scientists & the Need for Grand Failures
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News from the Dark Matter Front
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Why is the Universe expanding faster than we
expected?
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Physicists in atom smasher who saw the light
interact with light
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Earth Shots: View with all of our ice melted
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An Emperor Penguin Colony vanishes
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A new species of ancient Carnivore that lived 22
million years ago, was probably larger than a polar bear
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Scientists detect Neutrinos from one second
after The Big Bang
Doggie in the Window:
Best stories each month highlighting some heartworming and some
inspirational stories about dogs and the people who adopt them.
One of the largest areas found on any given week that covers
the Internet are pictures of dog owners showing us all the cute things their
dogs do. There are no limits to the ‘cuteness’ on display from puppies and full
grown animals with sleep habits and playtime toys and expressions and noises
they make to their misbehavior, all highlighted by their adoring pet owners.
Some of the best stories are the ones where we see people who
have rescued animals and brought them into their homes to give them a good
life. One that stood out from several months ago was from a woman who was at a
gas station pump, when a German Shepherd nudged her and then got into her car.
She realized it was a stray and took it to a rescue home and they adopted it.
There were lots of good pictures of the sweet animal who knew where to find
help.
One feel-good story featured this month is from a young woman
in Mexico who adopts a street dog and is determined to bring her home to the
US. The photos are remarkable as they document the dog’s journey from stray to
beloved pet in a loving US home.
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Street Dog’s Life changes when she chose a
caring Human; Healthy Pets site
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Another great story about street pets-a couple
who came to a beach in Bali and ended up opening their home to not one-but a
small pack of strays that they pick up and rescue as part of their routine! The
pictures are amazing
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Southern Living has an article: What’s the Best
Dog food to buy?
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Another picture piece from Healthy Pets: A ‘feel
good’ story of a young man who rescues a dog in Puerto Rico and the photo diary
of his adventures with his new best friend
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There’s a great piece for lovers of ‘Pitties”- a
cheerful dog with an indomitable spirit had spent four years in a shelter, but
always had an upbeat attitude and smile, and she is finally brought into a
rescue home to find her forever home
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Ways to understand your dog’s ways to
communicate with you
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Question is asked: Do dogs hold Grudges?
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Internet Dog shots from Buzzfeed that are always
hilarious
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Dog’s “Weird” behaviors explained
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Some less well known breeds of dogs that make
great pets
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Finally, from one of our favorite sites; Atlas
Obscura, is a very cool forensic recreation of the face of a dog that would have
lived over 4000 years ago in the wilds of Scotland
6 Degrees into the
Future
Some of the latest articles that highlight where we are going
in the 21st Century.
My own personal
obsession with all things futuristic, which was probably triggered from a young
age with classic science-fiction reading continued with a book I came across
years ago. The Omni Magazine put together a “Future Almanac” that organized the
predictions into categories such as science, education, technology; the book
was published in 1982 and featured predictions decade by decade through 2050.
I also saw a film in eighth grade that haunted me (being the
good nerd I am!) It was a look at the future from the year 1968 and was showing
audiences a glimpse of the world to come in 1999. Some of the predictions were
true, although many fell wide of the mark. One thing that was evident in the
production of this film was the lack of understanding of the social relevance
of the civil rights movement and equal rights for women. There was no poverty
or income inequality mentioned, and almost all of the featured actors were
white. The women were subservient to men, and they seemed clueless of any kind
of social upheaval or change in the progression of equality over the past fifty
years.
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Gene Edited Babies
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Quantum Computers
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2100: Redrawing the world’s coastal regions
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Robots: Coming to steal your jobs
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About Artificial Intelligence
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Autonomous trucks coming to a road near you
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Long range Iris Scanning
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“Mixed Reality”- new code for Virtual reality
that is predicted to change communication, collaboration and the workplace
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Bladeless wind turbines are coming
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About the All-Digital future
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Futurist discussing video: “A Message from the
Future”’
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Next stop: Brain computers?
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Solar powered car of the Future
Recommended reading: Future Smart and The Wonderful Future that
never was
The Best of the group of news stories that don’t get as much
attention as they deserve. The group is under the radar and some of these stories
could use a lot more attention from the media and press pools as they seem to
highlight the same top stories each day. Of course current news is important,
but these are stories that don’t get the coverage they deserve in some cases.
The top 10 List is one that can easily be expanded as we see so
many major news items being drowned out by other stories. The phrase, “Bright
Shiny Objects’ is one that is over-used, as is “Unprecedented.” But we do live
in unsettling times.
Here’s the List:
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US Incarceration Rate
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The Temperature of the Global Economy in 2019
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What is state of Trade after US Withdrawal from
TPP?
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An unspoken epidemic; Health damage due to
substance abuse and addiction
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The US and Fracking
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Drinking water crisis in Iowa
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The Murder rate fell: In Brazil
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China’s Pig Pandemic
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Wanted: Sponsor for top-secret Science Advisor
Board
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The European Press Corps vs The EU
GF Writers Cooking
For gluten free diets and for those foodies who want to eat healthy
most of the time-but still want their food to taste good!
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Blueberry Muffins
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Lemon Risotto
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Tuna Casserole that tastes good
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Sweet & Sour that’s quick & easy
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Cuban Black Beans-Tampa style
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What is Toad in the Hole?
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The Perfect Pizza: for Gluten Free Diets
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Best of Chocolate Chip cookies
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Best Potato Preparation
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Steak Marinade to end the discussion
